Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My word! You are suffering an attack of common sense… take 2 aspirin and see a professional health care specialist as soon as possible. But joking aside, AMA Allopaths are a monopoly that should be broken apart. I think the biggest hurdle is the "license to practice medicine" that permits manslaughter without criminal consequences. There was a sound reason to hold a physician immune from "deliberate injury" claims, because the very ill or terminal patients would be ignored, for fear of liability. But the bureaucratic practice of medicine, rigidly controlled and confined, creates the protective umbrella for the medicrats to perform walletectomies and remove pursitis. Possible reforms: [] Eliminate licensing, and have patients sign waivers, not unlike hospitals (which are not licensed, but duck criminal culpability just the same). [] Establish state or national exams, for bestowing credentials, ending monopoly of medical schools. [] Eliminate the "controlled substance" laws, and have people sign waivers of liability to purchase harmful or narcotic substances for themselves. [] End abusive medical education and internships. [] Abolish "practicing medicine without license" laws. [] Open medical / health care education to everyone. Universal health care is a reality when anyone can provide care for his neighbor, without fear.

lets see…floppy aortic valve needs a replacement, lets see what the guy next door has in his garage. Tool list: hedge clippers 1/2 inch socket set mitre saw shop vac good to go… No doctor/physician ever cures a patient… people cure themselves, with or without assistance.

See above you moron. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE  http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm  HIPAA and the Criminalization of American Medicine  http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj22n1/cj22n1-9.pdf   Have a healthy life   Bluerhymer

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE   http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm I think you need a new doctor, Raymond. There may be many who fit your description but so far I haven’t met one.    Dear "Lucky" Patricia,     Indeed you are lucky. I pray that your good fortune continues. And if you read my post thoroughly you should have noticed that I did not discuss any of my own personal experiences with doctors, although I could have.    You obviously have not been the fatal victim of a drunken driver either, yet over 15,000 persons each year die as a result of their reckless behavior. ( 16,652 in 2001 with 513,000 injured as the result of drinking ).

And far more drivers reach their destinations alive & well.   And yet, this number is far lower than similar deaths of patients who succumbed to the reckless behavior of doctors. And of course, all drivers do not drive drunk just as all physicians do not make medical errors that result in the death of patients.

Just as there are people in EVERY profession (many of whom could potentially be a danger to others) who don’t know what the heck they’re doing or who don’t give a rat’s behind about their work. Cops, airline pilots, soldiers, truck drivers — the list goes on & on — include such people among their ranks.  Fortunately, just as in the case of MD’s, these are the minority.  There are incompetent doctors. They are not the majority of those practicing medicine — they are simply the ones we read the horrifying stories about.  In addition, we must remember that — unlike victims killed by drivers under the influence — people going to MD’s often arrive at the office with a problem to begin with (indeed a problem that may be quite serious) that may make their treatment an uphill battle no matter what is done.   I suspect that you are very wealthy and have never been without good health care insurance, nor been the victim of the greedy HMO executive.

Many of us have had periods without health insurance at all.  I went 9 years without any coverage — even though I always worked, paid my bills & taxes, & fell into the category of middle-class homeowner. During that time, I never had difficulty finding MD’s (& a great dentist) who provided me with competent medical care. The health insurance industry, a public demanding quick fixes for problems they quite often refuse to accept any responsibility for preventing or mitigating, the pros & cons of how we administer medical care, & our wishful thinking that every patient’s story should have a happy ending can make the provision of health care difficult sometimes.  An idea like specialization is a double-edged sword that can provide the best possible diagnosis & treatment of a disorder — or it can overly narrow a doctor’s scope of expertise & limit the successful resolution of a problem.  Having an HMO pay for doctors’ office visits, diagnostic tests, prescriptions, &/or surgery may be the only way a patient can access such services — or it may prevent the patient from getting the treatment(s) that they desperately need. The problems we complain about aren’t cut & dried with simple answers. It would be nice to be able to accurately place the blame for the problems we have in our health care system at the feet of a single group, which would let us  feel we finally had "the answer" to solving them.  But there isn’t any one group that really fits the bill. Michele I ENJOY being a cranky bitch.

Response:

Eric – good reply to a ridiculous post. I, too, have had several negative experiences, over the many years, with doctors who"goofed’ one way or another.  That does not mean the majority are sub-standard.  The fact that the writer is confused about hypertensive medicines and/or anti-depressants tells you something about his inabiity to arrive at a fair judgment. Olly

   Dear Eric: Olly Mensch is within his prerogative to be critical since in Yiddish "Mensch" or "Mensh" means a person  having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose.   However, he may be interseted in knowing that it is not I who am confused about the named drugs.   He should therefore contact Mr.Stan Montgomery author of:   The Downward Spiral of Medical Corruption, who wrote in his article: "The psychs have now reached their influence into all medical practices since more antihypersensative drugs and antidepressent drugs are prescribed by family physicians than psychiatrists."   See: http://www.flash.net/~salvager/corrupt.htm   Best wishes and Shalom   The Tenth Man   Bluerhymer

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.au… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My word! You are suffering an attack of common sense… take 2 aspirin and see a professional health care specialist as soon as possible. But joking aside, AMA Allopaths are a monopoly that should be broken apart. I think the biggest hurdle is the "license to practice medicine" that permits manslaughter without criminal consequences. There was a sound reason to hold a physician immune from "deliberate injury" claims, because the very ill or terminal patients would be ignored, for fear of liability. But the bureaucratic practice of medicine, rigidly controlled and confined, creates the protective umbrella for the medicrats to perform walletectomies and remove pursitis. Possible reforms: [] Eliminate licensing, and have patients sign waivers, not unlike hospitals (which are not licensed, but duck criminal culpability just the same). [] Establish state or national exams, for bestowing credentials, ending monopoly of medical schools. [] Eliminate the "controlled substance" laws, and have people sign waivers of liability to purchase harmful or narcotic substances for themselves. [] End abusive medical education and internships. [] Abolish "practicing medicine without license" laws. [] Open medical / health care education to everyone. And just how will this improve medical care?      What would medicine look like without any ethical, professional, scientific or educational standards, and if in addition, any fear of litigation was removed?    (Which, incidentally, the signing of waivers doesn’t.) Or is this a joke — you are sending the previous correspondent up? Peter Moran

    Doctor Miller, the small-town physician,     Could cure almost any condition.         And not only that,         With a change of his hat,     He was also the small-town mortician.                                     –Rich ;o)

Response:

(My mothers doctor was a rather successful mortician) Anth

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE      http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm I think you need a new doctor, Raymond. There may be many who fit your description but so far I haven’t met one.    Dear "Lucky" Patricia,     Indeed you are lucky. I pray that your good fortune continues. And if you read my post thoroughly you should have noticed that I did not discuss any of my own personal experiences with doctors, although I could have.    You obviously have not been the fatal victim of a drunken driver either, yet over 15,000 persons each year die as a result of their reckless behavior. ( 16,652 in 2001 with 513,000 injured as the result of drinking ). And yet, this number is far lower than similar deaths of patients who succumbed to the reckless behavior of doctors. And of course, all drivers do not drive drunk just as all physicians do not make medical errors that result in the death of patients.   I suspect that you are very wealthy and have never been without good health care insurance, nor been the victim of the greedy HMO executive.   "If you’ve ever grumbled about how the press plays up one of tragedy while ignoring millions of successes, you won’t enjoy reading this. But you should. There’s a lesson here about managed care’s failure to tell its story effectively."   See: A News Reporter Explains His ‘Horror Stories’.   by Wm. Sherman, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Emmy and Peabody award-winning television news correspondent and producer. He won the Pulitzer for an 18 part series on abuses of the national medicalprogram by providers who were delivering substandard care.   http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/9709/0709.reporterview.shtml   More reading;   Incriminating Documents; Nurses vs. HMOs   http://www.anticorp.com/hardcorp/hmo.htm   http://www.boschs.org/articles/slim/er-horror.shtml   Bluerhymer Neither my father (then) or my daughter (now) resemble the kind of physician you describe. My primary care doctor knows my name, my concerns and IF I do need some kind of test it’s arranged and he or his PA will call with the results. If the news is good..no problem if it isn’t … I have an appointment that day or the next to discuss the matter with him and make an informed decision on what to do about it. Lucky in Florida… Patricia

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE   http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm I think you need a new doctor, Raymond. There may be many who fit your description but so far I haven’t met one.    Dear "Lucky" Patricia,     Indeed you are lucky. I pray that your good fortune continues. And if you read my post thoroughly you should have noticed that I did not discuss any of my own personal experiences with doctors, although I could have.    You obviously have not been the fatal victim of a drunken driver either, yet over 15,000 persons each year die as a result of their reckless behavior. ( 16,652 in 2001 with 513,000 injured as the result of drinking ). And yet, this number is far lower than similar deaths of patients who succumbed to the reckless behavior of doctors. And of course, all drivers do not drive drunk just as all physicians do not make medical errors that result in the death of patients.   I suspect that you are very wealthy and have never been without good health care insurance, nor been the victim of the greedy HMO executive.   "If you’ve ever grumbled about how the press plays up one of tragedy while ignoring millions of successes, you won’t enjoy reading this. But you should. There’s a lesson here about managed care’s failure to tell its story effectively."   See: A News Reporter Explains His ‘Horror Stories’.   by Wm. Sherman, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Emmy and Peabody award-winning television news correspondent and producer. He won the Pulitzer for an 18 part series on abuses of the national medicalprogram by providers who were delivering substandard care.

                       See CORRECTION BELOW – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/9709/9709.reporterview.shtml   More reading;   Incriminating Documents; Nurses vs. HMOs   http://www.anticorp.com/hardcorp/hmo.htm   http://www.boschs.org/articles/slim/er-horror.shtml   Bluerhymer Neither my father (then) or my daughter (now) resemble the kind of physician you describe. My primary care doctor knows my name, my concerns and IF I do need some kind of test it’s arranged and he or his PA will call with the results. If the news is good..no problem if it isn’t … I have an appointment that day or the next to discuss the matter with him and make an informed decision on what to do about it. Lucky in Florida… Patricia

Response:

My word! You are suffering an attack of common sense… take 2 aspirin and see a professional health care specialist as soon as possible. But joking aside, AMA Allopaths are a monopoly that should be broken apart. I think the biggest hurdle is the "license to practice medicine" that permits manslaughter without criminal consequences. There was a sound reason to hold a physician immune from "deliberate injury" claims, because the very ill or terminal patients would be ignored, for fear of liability. But the bureaucratic practice of medicine, rigidly controlled and confined, creates the protective umbrella for the medicrats to perform walletectomies and remove pursitis.

  All very true. Much of the problem comes from the protection the medical community receives from the President and the prostitutes in the Congress.   An estimated 40 percent of the 17,800 lobbyists registered in Washington promote health care agendas. ( $1.56 billion last year was spent to sway Congress and the Executive branch.)   There are 13 health care lobbyists for each of the 535 members of Congress.   How many lobbyists are there to protect you from this pathetically destructive community of murderers and thieves?   Ask your "HO" in Congress how much he/she takes to keep the issue one-sided, then vote him/her out of office. Clean house and start over. And both parties are guilty, so don’t pick on one of the parasite political groups.   See: Lobbyists That The founders Just Never Dreamed Of   "The ‘right’… to petition the government has come a long way in over 200 years, and health care organizations are not shy in excercising it."  http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0208/0208.lobbying.html   Check:   http://www.physicianreports.com   http://www.healthcaremag.com   Thank you   Bluerhymer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Possible reforms: [] Eliminate licensing, and have patients sign waivers, not unlike hospitals (which are not licensed, but duck criminal culpability just the same). [] Establish state or national exams, for bestowing credentials, ending monopoly of medical schools. [] Eliminate the "controlled substance" laws, and have people sign waivers of liability to purchase harmful or narcotic substances for themselves. [] End abusive medical education and internships. [] Abolish "practicing medicine without license" laws. [] Open medical / health care education to everyone. Universal health care is a reality when anyone can provide care for his neighbor, without fear. No doctor/physician ever cures a patient… people cure themselves, with or without assistance. Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE  http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm  HIPAA and the Criminalization of American Medicine  http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj22n1/cj22n1-9.pdf   Have a healthy life   Bluerhymer

Response:

  And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE

     http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm I think you need a new doctor, Raymond. There may be many who fit your description but so far I haven’t met one.

   Dear "Lucky" Patricia,     Indeed you are lucky. I pray that your good fortune continues. And if you read my post thoroughly you should have noticed that I did not discuss any of my own personal experiences with doctors, although I could have.    You obviously have not been the fatal victim of a drunken driver either, yet over 15,000 persons each year die as a result of their reckless behavior. ( 16,652 in 2001 with 513,000 injured as the result of drinking ). And yet, this number is far lower than similar deaths of patients who succumbed to the reckless behavior of doctors. And of course, all drivers do not drive drunk just as all physicians do not make medical errors that result in the death of patients.   I suspect that you are very wealthy and have never been without good health care insurance, nor been the victim of the greedy HMO executive.   "If you’ve ever grumbled about how the press plays up one of tragedy while ignoring millions of successes, you won’t enjoy reading this. But you should. There’s a lesson here about managed care’s failure to tell its story effectively."   See: A News Reporter Explains His ‘Horror Stories’.   by Wm. Sherman, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Emmy and Peabody award-winning television news correspondent and producer. He won the Pulitzer for an 18 part series on abuses of the national medicalprogram by providers who were delivering substandard care.   http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/9709/0709.reporterview.shtml   More reading;   Incriminating Documents; Nurses vs. HMOs   http://www.anticorp.com/hardcorp/hmo.htm   http://www.boschs.org/articles/slim/er-horror.shtml   Bluerhymer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Neither my father (then) or my daughter (now) resemble the kind of physician you describe. My primary care doctor knows my name, my concerns and IF I do need some kind of test it’s arranged and he or his PA will call with the results. If the news is good..no problem if it isn’t … I have an appointment that day or the next to discuss the matter with him and make an informed decision on what to do about it. Lucky in Florida… Patricia

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment. <snip  If this worries you – just don’t go to doctors. And just maybe don’t get fat and idle. Still little old ladies seem to live a long time and go to doctors – or is it owning a poodle that keeps them alive.

   Dear Cramer:      Maybe you should stick with TV situation comedy where professional comedy writers provide the dialogue.      Please say "Hello" to Jerry Seinfeld next time you see him. And, will the two of you be working together again soon?     Although I am not an old lady, I will look into the evidence that owning a poodle will extend my life.      Thank you.      Shalom          Bluerhymer

Response:

Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE  http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm  HIPAA and the Criminalization of American Medicine  http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj22n1/cj22n1-9.pdf   Have a healthy life   Bluerhymer

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My word! You are suffering an attack of common sense… take 2 aspirin and see a professional health care specialist as soon as possible. But joking aside, AMA Allopaths are a monopoly that should be broken apart. I think the biggest hurdle is the "license to practice medicine" that permits manslaughter without criminal consequences. There was a sound reason to hold a physician immune from "deliberate injury" claims, because the very ill or terminal patients would be ignored, for fear of liability. But the bureaucratic practice of medicine, rigidly controlled and confined, creates the protective umbrella for the medicrats to perform walletectomies and remove pursitis. Possible reforms: [] Eliminate licensing, and have patients sign waivers, not unlike hospitals (which are not licensed, but duck criminal culpability just the same). [] Establish state or national exams, for bestowing credentials, ending monopoly of medical schools. [] Eliminate the "controlled substance" laws, and have people sign waivers of liability to purchase harmful or narcotic substances for themselves. [] End abusive medical education and internships. [] Abolish "practicing medicine without license" laws. [] Open medical / health care education to everyone.

And just how will this improve medical care?      What would medicine look like without any ethical, professional, scientific or educational standards, and if in addition, any fear of litigation was removed?    (Which, incidentally, the signing of waivers doesn’t.) Or is this a joke — you are sending the previous correspondent up? Peter Moran

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Is your doctor also your murderer?  Could be. There’s a saying:  "Trust but verify."   However, when dealing with doctors (many of whom seem to be trying to grab your wallet with both hands, as they’re kicking you into your grave), … it’s important to be a whole lot more careful than that. Don’t trust, & keep asking a lot of questions. Susan, Su_Texas  my opinions

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My word! You are suffering an attack of common sense… take 2 aspirin and see a professional health care specialist as soon as possible. But joking aside, AMA Allopaths are a monopoly that should be broken apart. I think the biggest hurdle is the "license to practice medicine" that permits manslaughter without criminal consequences. There was a sound reason to hold a physician immune from "deliberate injury" claims, because the very ill or terminal patients would be ignored, for fear of liability. But the bureaucratic practice of medicine, rigidly controlled and confined, creates the protective umbrella for the medicrats to perform walletectomies and remove pursitis. Possible reforms: [] Eliminate licensing, and have patients sign waivers, not unlike hospitals (which are not licensed, but duck criminal culpability just the same). [] Establish state or national exams, for bestowing credentials, ending monopoly of medical schools. [] Eliminate the "controlled substance" laws, and have people sign waivers of liability to purchase harmful or narcotic substances for themselves. [] End abusive medical education and internships. [] Abolish "practicing medicine without license" laws. [] Open medical / health care education to everyone. Universal health care is a reality when anyone can provide care for his neighbor, without fear. No doctor/physician ever cures a patient… people cure themselves, with or without assistance. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment.  See GANGSTERS IN MEDICINE  http://www.rense.com/general33/gang.htm  HIPAA and the Criminalization of American Medicine  http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj22n1/cj22n1-9.pdf   Have a healthy life   Bluerhymer

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(Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.

WOW!  You mean to say that INTERNISTS actually prescribe more BLOOD PRESSURE drugs than PSYCHIATRISTS?  Psychiatry would be a far more profitable specialty if hypertension were considered a psychiatric diagnosis…

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Long ago, doctors may have had a noble purpose, but in the past fifty years they have become mere prostitutes, accepting money and performing as requested. Since the patient so seldom pays, the prostitutes do the bidding of the people  with the money, the insurance companies and the diabolic HMOs (Horrendous Medical Organizations).    Doctors have come a long way since the early days. Then they were our heros. Today, they are more often our villians than our heros and it is the general practioner who is the villian closest to sending you to your grave. Today, people suffer from the madness of doctors in the privacy of their funeral homes , while doctors try to escape their sins by spending more time with their accountants and bankers.   Long ago they realized they had no help to offer. Your doctor may want to help but he has been brought into a corrupt system that forces him to dance to the tune of the government and insurance company rules for payment.   And when the doctor loses a profitable patient, he tells the family that he did all he could. To his peers and to the employees in his office ( that probably knew more about the patient and his or her medical condition than our doctor ) that the patient died for lack of patient compliance. "The patient didn’t folllow the doctor’s orders."   Then, to overcome his grief, he has his office secretary call the Medical/Dental Bureau and request another ailing body (with insurance) to fill his already overbooked calendar..   Have you noticed? When you visit your GP, or in the case of HMOs, your Primary Care Physician (PCP), he has no idea what ails you and may have no intention, within you carefully controled twenty-mintues, to do anything other than to review your blood pressure result and your temperature, which the nurse was responsible for providing. If you have a temperature, he assures you that it is the result of "something that is going around." If you have a pain, he will either prescribe a pain medication , or have blood taken if the pain deceives him and appears internal rather than muscular. Then, he has you return to his office, no matter how bad you are feeling, to hear the results of the blood analysis. Then, if scary, you will be sent to someone who can really treat your condition properly; the specialist, who may or may not know his specialty as well as he knows his stock portfolio.   If you appear depressed, our GP will either prescribe medications that deal with depression or send you to a psychiatrist who may have more depression and personal problems than any of his patients. (Psychiatrists, more than any other profession commit suicide). The family physician now prescribes more antihypertensive drugs and anytidepressent drugs than psychiatrists. These drugs are to hide symptoms, or help us to cope without addressing the cause.   And after you are under the ground, who can prove, that the person you trusted the most when you were ill, that his observations were wrong as well as his treatment. <snip

 If this worries you – just don’t go to doctors. And just maybe don’t get fat and idle. Still little old ladies seem to live a long time and go to doctors – or is it owning a poodle that keeps them alive.

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Question:

Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free?

You generally aren’t allowed to offer yourself "for free."  Ontario labour laws forbid that. And this will be seriously challenging.  I do not think it has been an easy time for the experienced people _with_ designations; you, coming in with less, may find it rather challenging to get anyone to talk to you. — http://cbbrowne.com/info/advocacy.html I found out why  cats drink out of the toilet. My  mother told me it’s because it’s cold in there. And I’m like: How did my mother know THAT? –Wendy Liebman

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there are internship programs in the US but you need the help of the college teachers, some require it in their classes and help the students make arrangements with local companies.  The companies involved are affiliated with the university and get some benefit.     Do they have "temp" agencies in Canada?   you can often get relevant work experience working temporary (low paid!) jobs until you graduate or even after

Most business colleges have some sort of career center, at least here in the USA. Did your COB advisor not ever mention anything of this sort? Career centers are designed for the student to be able to make the transition into the working world a little more smooth. It helps the student get acquainted with the different companies so that job placement can be less difficult. Janice

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Hi sa I hope this site will helpful to you www.careeredge.org  they recruits new grads and you get paid during your internship. it ’s federal government program. Saya

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

Response:

Hello, Yes, in Canada there is such as thing as internship where a person like yourself can get experience towards a full time position. It’s called volunteering!   Many charitable and not for profit organisations can’t afford to hire, but still require the skills of an educated individual. Not all organisations offer this opportunity but many do.   I for one know fora fact this is so because I’ve aided over 10 students within a local Toronto College and within the CGA Program attained their entry level skills required to find a full time position. The students that have interned with me have taken with them knowledge of the work environment and skills they never learned in College. Why not check out volunteering by approaching NPO organisations and see what develops. Sally – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

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There are lots of companies looking for knowledgeable bookkeepers and clerks. Try monster.ca, workopolis.com for entry level positions like bookkeeper and accounting clerks. If you have the training you can usually get your foot in the door. That being said, I am a senior bookkeeper with several college certificates in accounting to my credit, and studying part time for an accounting diploma as well as 6 years experience in general accounting to trial balance, and many years of A/R before that. It took me 6 months to get a job sending out 20 to 30 resumes a day. Good luck. — Stephanie Serba, AICIA Partner, Accounting & Technology Durham Business Outsource www.dbo.ca

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

Response:

So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

Response:

I forgot to mention I am currently residing in Toront, Ontario. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Im coming awfully close to graduating from my local college with an accounting/finance diploma.  Sure this diploma compared to people getting their CA’s/CGA’s is worth nothing, but the advantage I have over this diploma is that I can still apply for a CGA/CA and get a fair bit of courses exempted (I have gotten B’s/A’s for the majroity of the courses).  My question/concerns are, I know that getting an education gets you the interview, and experience will get you the job. Of course I have no chance of even GETTING an interview with my diploma (even though the college is a highly respectful one, especially related to the program I am enrolled in).  Has anyone ever heard of firms/banks or any accounting/finance related companies hire people for internships (meaning, you dont get paid?).  I would seriously consider doing this sort of thing for any bigname firm/company or bank.  Earning high income is not of huge importance to me once I graduate because I dont have alot of expenses (yea.. I live home and have a zero social life, but Im working hard now so I can play hard later). Any advice or suggestions?  is it a good idea for me to visit accounting offices/firms around the city come graduation time and introduce myself and my situation?  And offer myself for free? -SA

there are internship programs in the US but you need the help of the college teachers, some require it in their classes and help the students make arrangements with local companies.  The companies involved are affiliated with the university and get some benefit.     Do they have "temp" agencies in Canada?   you can often get relevant work experience working temporary (low paid!) jobs until you graduate or even after

Response:

Question:

We’ve been using QB 2000 for about 3 years now in our small consulting business. We have about 40 clients entered, each with multiple jobs. We have only one employee who maintains time sheets. We have never really been happy with QB but we need to either upgrade (tax tables updates no longer available for QB 2000) or switch. When I suggest switching to another program, my partner asks, "Are you crazy?" since we’re basically set-up and functioning with QB. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions to share with us in this matter? Thanks in advance. —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 100,000 Newsgroups – 19 Different Servers! =—–

Response:

We’ve been using QB 2000 for about 3 years now in our small consulting business. We have about 40 clients entered, each with multiple jobs. We have only one employee who maintains time sheets. We have never really been happy with QB but we need to either upgrade (tax tables updates no longer available for QB 2000) or switch. When I suggest switching to another program, my partner asks, "Are you crazy?" since we’re basically set-up and functioning with QB. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions to share with us in this matter? Thanks in advance.

Peachtree has advantages for businesses with inventories, also, you can "edit" the payroll tax tables manually with Peachtree (they still advise you to upgrade each year)   Switching accounting programs requires some

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I get rather disgusted with QB.  One of the things in  Peachtree that is really nice is the journal feature which lets you see exactly which accounts are being used.  List exports for things like mailings is also much better.  I’d say that the job costing will also be better then QB.  The time management section has a feature that looks good but really isn’t  practical. If you were starting from scratch Peachtree would definitly be the better way to go.  It is a little harder to get up and running on, but once over that a lot more power.  Changing is always a pain.  I’d look and consider if you are going to need a much more powerful program in the near future.  Neither QB or Peachtree meet midrange standards or are likely to. I’ve descriptions of a number of accounting packages in my website. Bill Couture http:\www.sbtbill.com

Response:

  Yes I have another thought .. there is a stand alone payroll program www.medlin.com offers.   Peachtree is a great program too but they charge for payroll updates in newer versions too.  This might be a help to you.  You can use a journal entry to enter the payroll from an external program.     I====   I use excel to enter weekly pay, summarize it for the month, then enter the monthly pay for each employee in Medlin.   However, I am doing after-the-fact accounting for payroll.  If I were doing the whole thing starting with hours worked, and determining amounts to be withheld, I would go straight into Medlin.   If you have a large number of employees, it might be better to get a faster program.  Medlin is a little awkward for me for after-the-fact pay since my clients calculate withholding which often does not agree with Medlin’s calculation and I have to replace the calculated figures.  If I hit the enter button instead of moving to a position with the mouse, it records the pay as-is.  Then I have to go thru a difficult job of browsing until I can find the employee and correct it.   For my purposes, Medlin does the job very well and I can’t justify the expense of a more elaborate program.

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Question:

Hi I suppose we are all familiar with the entities that provide free services to job applicants – getting their money from the company – like Robert Half, etal… What about these hustlers that charge the applicants (and then the companies probably as well). Are any of them worth a grain of salt – or are they all scam artists?? Thanks

– You might want to do some library research on that one. I think it has been covered in the business press before. AIR, the coverage was negative. *             Ronald Lee Todd M.B.A., C.P.A.                  * * Unemployed for seven years, mistake of being an accountant. * *   Students, when someone tells you of your great future as  * *       an accountant, ask him to show you the job.           *

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Hello: Most of these agencies specialize in entry level jobs.  The companies can get yound talent for free and the kids parents usually pay the fee, which is a tax deduction. In Houston, there is such an agency called Qualitec and has been in operation since 1989 that I know of.  They work the phones continually for positions that companies have open.  Their mantra is "no cost to the employer" and "we save you the search time". Personally, I would not want to work for someone who can’t or wont ante up 270.00 for a monster add and some time to do the search.  Also, why start out 5,000 dollars or more in the hole? Best of luck on your search! John J. Fisher CPA & Controller in the Great state of Texas, City of Houston

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Hello: Most of these agencies specialize in entry level jobs.  The companies can get yound talent for free and the kids parents usually pay the fee, which is a tax deduction.

Not if the parents pay it. Probably not if a fresh college grad pays it. Regards, Bill

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Question:

Whose lifetime? Customer or company?

Product

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so then don’t be coy – divulge it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the marginal cost of building one more$500 retail rod is a mere fraction of it’s street price. possibly well under $100. However that doesn’t mean the company that makes it is making outrageous profit. There’s much more to making and marketing any product than just the labour and materials involved in making the rod. if they were there’d be many more companies making rods. Check the cost of premium non-fly rods. Are they significantly lower by order of magnitude?

Last time I saw a price for a Loomis non-fly rod is was about the same as for a fly rod.

Response:

Figure out was the cost per foot is and you’ll find them to be very close.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  The most expensive GLoomis casting/spinning  rods are around $400; the most expensive fly  rods are around $700.  In general the fly rod lines  are more expensive than the spin/casting lines  using the same blank materials. Last time I saw a price for a Loomis non-fly rod is was about the same as for a fly rod. Remove "XX" from address

Response:

Whose lifetime? Customer or company? I have been told that a certain rod company (which may or may not have been the subject of other threads here) is currently having difficulty finding a buyer because of the contingent liabilities associated with the lifetime warranties it offers. Some years ago, my parents bought my wife and I some expensive cookware (the set was added to over birthdays and as Christmas presents) which came with a ‘lifetime warranty’. Against all the odds (the burgeoning world-wide interest in cooking and culinary matters), the huge company that made the pots and pans in question went into administration. The company’s residual assets and brand name, etc. were bought by a large American pots n’ pans company, which continued to market products under the original brand. When one of my pots failed and I tried to make a claim under the lifetime warranty, the American company absolutely refused to make any restitution. It argued that the warranty had been issued by the original company which was technically no longer in existence and, therefore, it was not liable to honour the warranties issued by the original company (even though it was quite happy to continue to sell products bearing the original brand name). The names Prestige and Meyer do not have a high reputation in our household. I make the prediction that current lifetime warranty policies will result in several well-known rod companies being voluntarilly wound up in the next few years. Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

Response:

Whose lifetime? Customer or company? When one of my pots failed and I tried to make a claim under the lifetime warranty, the American company absolutely refused to make any restitution. It argued that the warranty had been issued by the original company which was technically no longer in existence and, therefore, it was not liable to honour the warranties issued by the original company

problem is your warranty was with the original company not the brand name. Once they’d bought out the bankrupt husk the buyer likely transferred ownership of the brand name. It lived on but your warranty died along with the defunct corporation I make the prediction that current lifetime warranty policies will result in several well-known rod companies being voluntarilly wound up in the next few years.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles require all businesses that issue warranties establish offsetting liabilities for future warranty expense. If a rod manufacturer goes under because it can’t meet it warranty claims it will be due more to bad accounting than the warranty itself. You’d have to ask yourself why all the majors offer them. they’ve been around for 10 years plus exactly why some think this marketing scheme is so deadly? But then again so many make this prediction eventually someone will be lucky. Maybe it’ll be you!

Response:

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles require all businesses that issue warranties establish offsetting liabilities for future warranty expense. If a rod manufacturer goes under because it can’t meet it warranty claims it will be due more to bad accounting than the warranty itself. You’d have to ask yourself why all the majors offer them. they’ve been around for 10 years plus exactly why some think this marketing scheme is so deadly? But then again so many make this prediction eventually someone will be lucky. Maybe it’ll be you!

Really? That’s a bit condescending, but I don’t think it stands scrutiny. Consider this. Your business is making rods. They are, if not your sole product, comfortably the predominant chunk of your business. You offer, on that product (essentially, a quite fragile structure and prone, by the nature of its use, to damage and accident at some time in its career), a ‘lifetime any reason warranty’. What do you suppose is the potential contingent liability on such a policy? How might you quantify it? If not strictly ‘limitless’, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist (or even an accountant) to see that it is  -shall we say- fairly unconstrained topside. Now I admit that I have not been privy to the accounts of any rod company, but I should be most interested to see how such contingent liabilities are provided for. The only way it makes sense (to me) could be that rods are sold at a pretty astronomical margin over cost in the first place. Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

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Is "mfrs" an abbreviation for Manufacturers or Motherf%^^$*s??? Clark "B Holmes" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – One also needs to consider that after a decade or so of making said product, the mfrs should by now have an almost actuarial sense of how many rods will be coming back for repair/replacement and of those what percentage will be making a warranty claim.

Response:

so then don’t be coy – divulge it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the marginal cost of building one more$500 retail rod is a mere fraction of it’s street price. possibly well under $100. However that doesn’t mean the company that makes it is making outrageous profit. There’s much more to making and marketing any product than just the labour and materials involved in making the rod. if they were there’d be many more companies making rods. Check the cost of premium non-fly rods. Are they significantly lower by order of magnitude? So Mike let us know the cost of machining the mandrels, or of cleaning them off after the blank is removed, the cost of benefits for the staff, the cost of the indirect staff not actually involved in production, the cost of the pressure rollers, the cost of the ovens to back the blanks, delivery costs to get the rods to a dealer,the lease cost of the building and land, market and development costs. I have no way of knowing and would like to know. Send me an email. I’ll keep it confidential. Thanks

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <SNIP The only way it makes sense (to me) could be that rods are sold at a pretty astronomical margin over cost in the first place. Tony is correct! ))) Incidentally, I have been privy to some company info. TL MC

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So Mike let us know the cost of machining the mandrels, or of cleaning them off after the blank is removed, the cost of benefits for the staff, the cost of the indirect staff not actually involved in production, the cost of the pressure rollers, the cost of the ovens to back the blanks, delivery costs to get the rods to a dealer,the lease cost of the building and land, market and development costs. I have no way of knowing and would like to know. Send me an email. I’ll keep it confidential. Thanks

I have published such info here before. There is no secret about it. TL MC

Response:

The only way it makes sense (to me) could be that rods are sold at a pretty astronomical margin over cost in the first place.

Bingo! One also needs to consider that after a decade or so of making said product, the mfrs should by now have an almost actuarial sense of how many rods will be coming back for repair/replacement and of those what percentage will be making a warranty claim. Consider also that mfrs most likely maintain some level of backstock either from over runs, slow sales or failed retailers. At $500+ dollars retail for a plastic stick with some wire and cork glued to it, I would also guess that there is a pretty sweet profit in each and every one of their sales.

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You are quite correct. If a rod company offers an "unconditional" warrantee that covers damage from any cause (car doors, falls, earthquakes, bears etc.) then you really buying an insurance policy for the rod. The one time cost of the policy is included in the purchase price.  I don’t what statistical basis they use to determine the cost of the policy but it would seem your going to be dumped in with a bunch of dummies and pay a high premium. I take good care of my stuff and don’t need to be paying insurance premiums for the clumsy and stupid.  If I do break a rod with a car door it’s pretty much my fault and I don’t think a rod company (or all the other people they have overcharge for their products) should pay for it.  I’m willing to take my loss or try my homeowners insurance for coverage. It’s not that difficult to inspect a rod and tell how it broke.  I think a reputable company would warrantee defects in material and workmanship and that is all you can reasonably expect – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ****snipped**** The only way it makes sense (to me) could be that rods are sold at a pretty astronomical margin over cost in the first place. Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

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<SNIP The only way it makes sense (to me) could be that rods are sold at a pretty astronomical margin over cost in the first place.

Tony is correct! ))) Incidentally, I have been privy to some company info. TL MC

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You are quite correct. If a rod company offers an "unconditional" warrantee that covers damage from any cause (car doors, falls, earthquakes, bears etc.) then you really buying an insurance policy for the rod. The one time cost of the policy is included in the purchase price.  I don’t what statistical basis they use to determine the cost of the policy but it would seem your going to be dumped in with a bunch of dummies and pay a high premium. I take good care of my stuff and don’t need to be paying insurance premiums for the clumsy and stupid.  If I do break a rod with a car door it’s pretty much my fault and I don’t think a rod company (or all the other people they have overcharge for their products) should pay for it.  I’m willing to take my loss or try my homeowners insurance for coverage. It’s not that difficult to inspect a rod and tell how it broke.  I think a reputable company would warrantee defects in material and workmanship and that is all you can reasonably expect

Oh dear, I find myself bound to agree with you. Hopefully I will get over it. TL MC

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I’ll set that straight –  It will be after the weekend.   There’s fish in the Santiam river here allthough I don’t know if I can stand the crowds.  I rather go to a river that’s not "hot" at the moment and have it more to myself. What have the floods done to the fishing.  In my misspent youth when the rivers flooded I  would run fish down in the cow pastures.  Good (only way) way to get fish in January.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You are quite correct. If a rod company offers an "unconditional" warrantee that covers damage from any cause (car doors, falls, earthquakes, bears etc.) then you really buying an insurance policy for the rod. The one time cost of the policy is included in the purchase price.  I don’t what statistical basis they use to determine the cost of the policy but it would seem your going to be dumped in with a bunch of dummies and pay a high premium. I take good care of my stuff and don’t need to be paying insurance premiums for the clumsy and stupid.  If I do break a rod with a car door it’s pretty much my fault and I don’t think a rod company (or all the other people they have overcharge for their products) should pay for it.  I’m willing to take my loss or try my homeowners insurance for coverage. It’s not that difficult to inspect a rod and tell how it broke.  I think a reputable company would warrantee defects in material and workmanship and that is all you can reasonably expect Oh dear, I find myself bound to agree with you. Hopefully I will get over it. TL MC

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Hi Tony & All other ROFFers, This is why I always recommend dealing with the more popular brands because, hopefully, if they are popular and selling a lot of product, they should be in business for a while for warranty, parts and service too. A good example is Ross fly reel company that still has extra spools, parts and service with a lifetime warranty for many reels they no longer make or that have been up dated. For fly rods Sage is the number one in popularity of medium to high end fly rods and they have been around for a long time especially if you count the time that they were Fenwick rod company. Don Green has over 40 years in the fishing rod manufacturing business and has been number one in fly rods all this time. — Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento, CA, USA www.kiene.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Whose lifetime? Customer or company? I have been told that a certain rod company (which may or may not have been the subject of other threads here) is currently having difficulty finding a buyer because of the contingent liabilities associated with the lifetime warranties it offers. Some years ago, my parents bought my wife and I some expensive cookware (the set was added to over birthdays and as Christmas presents) which came with a ‘lifetime warranty’. Against all the odds (the burgeoning world-wide interest in cooking and culinary matters), the huge company that made the pots and pans in question went into administration. The company’s residual assets and brand name, etc. were bought by a large American pots n’ pans company, which continued to market products under the original brand. When one of my pots failed and I tried to make a claim under the lifetime warranty, the American company absolutely refused to make any restitution. It argued that the warranty had been issued by the original company which was technically no longer in existence and, therefore, it was not liable to honour the warranties issued by the original company (even though it was quite happy to continue to sell products bearing the original brand name). The names Prestige and Meyer do not have a high reputation in our household. I make the prediction that current lifetime warranty policies will result in several well-known rod companies being voluntarilly wound up in the next few years. Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

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Question:

This has relevance to me since my wife is covered under Andersen COBRA and we are expecting our first baby on September 8th.  As long as Andersen is offering some form of group health care, we are covered.   I feel pretty safe since I think it will take months after this to resolve several liability and administrative issues, yet I have spent more than a few hours worrying about this is looking into other options.   /////Statement of Arthur Andersen, LLP CHICAGO, June 15, 2002 — In a statement released today regarding its audit practice, Arthur Andersen LLP acknowledged that the jury verdict in Andersen’s criminal trial in Houston, which found the firm guilty of one count of obstruction of justice, will effectively end the firm’s audit practice. Unless the jury verdict is set aside by the trial judge, a judgment of conviction could be entered as early as August 31, 2002, depending on the amount of time needed for the Government and Andersen to brief and argue post-trial motions. If entered, the conviction would be grounds for automatic suspension of Andersen’s ability to practice before the Securities and Exchange Commission. Between now and August 31, Andersen said it will be working actively to help transition its remaining clients to other accounting firms. By August 31, the firm expects to cease practicing before the Commission and expects to begin immediately an orderly process for dealing with state regulators leading to surrender of the firm

Question:

The Right Reverend Horatio P. Snorklebottom If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this…

<<<<<<<<<<<<< knipperdeknip Grrrrrrr…..I try to never lose my temper, but this is it…. Me: "Who in MY COMPANY authorized that??!!""

Ahhh, time for a suitable change management process. If people from multiple locations start pulling the same rope it is the only way to survive, I think. How many people think that someones contract is getting terminated very  soon??

Nah, you have to create real disasters for that…. maarten

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Hey… at least you didnt find port mapping softare running on a DOD network…….  8-( – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this… My day today…my day job is as Network Administrator for a Accounting/Personal Management firm on Music Row.  I won’t name names but you have heard of many of our clients. We recently merged with another, similar company in LA, and have our eye on another one in New York.  So,  part of my job is maintaining connectivity between two very different networks (Us Microsoft 2000, them Novell 5) via a encrypted VPN link and making sure that everyone in both locations can access data anywhere. In order to do this, I use a link to a Win2K workstation I have set up in LA across the VPN with PCAnywhere and a FTP server  (also the print server for the LA LAN).  I can then administrate the Novell Directory with PCAnywhere in the remote LAN, and use the FTP server to provide file transfer….I have another FTP server on my end. Our LA office uses a computer  firm under contract because they don’t have an in house IT staff like we do (actually, the users out there are pretty much without clue)… The contractors were by yesterday for some workstation stuff that isn’t practical to do remotely from Nashville. So, this morning, the Big Boss comes in screaming he cannot get these Royalty Audit files.  I try the FTP server, and it is not responding…. which never happens.  So I grab the PC Anywhere link….which does not respond…. I start checking the network, and the address that WAS my FTP server/PC anywhere  portal now seems to be a users computer….grrr….. OK, so someone reset my addresses…  I call out to LA, get a hold of a user and walk them through the ultra complex task of running "IPCONFIG" on the print server (this only takes about an hour).  Yep, the address has been changed….but the new address will not answer on PCAnywhere either…. I get on the phone and call the contractor…get a machine…leave a message…. Then I try to connect to the FTP server that should be on that port…no connection…. Deciding the user must have checked the wrong computer, I set up a port scan and start looking for computers listening on the PC anywhere ports…hey, there are only 253 addresses it can be…. No answer. I call out to the contractor again…same machine…"Leave a message and I will return your call immediately"…. I scan the network for FTP servers…. nothing… third call, 3 hours and four phone calls later, I get the contractor to answer his phone…"Yeah, I  changed the DHCP scopes and the address of the print server to …" Me: "Yeah, I got that far…is PC Anywhere stopped for some reason?" Them:  "No, we changed the port numbers to xxxx" Very nonstandard port numbers (and I have configured PCAnywhere to only answer calls over the local, nonroutable LAN..no WAN access at all). Refraining from the obvious question "just why the f**k would you do that?"  I reconfigure PCAnywhere….tunnel in…and find the FTP server isn’t just stopped, it is uninstalled…. Grrrrrrr…..I try to never lose my temper, but this is it…. Me: "Who in MY COMPANY authorized that??!!"" Them:  "Er, well, no one…So and so (one of the senior folks at the contractors office) said it would improve lan security" This from the hired help…without authorization or correct documentation…. How many people think that someones contract is getting terminated very  soon??

Response:

If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this…

The frightening thing is, I understood that. My sympathies. I run a 2 computer lan at home. Sometimes I think it’s one too many…. Rob

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I know, when you start understanding stuff like this…it scares you… My bro’s an ansolute NUT. He’s set up a 5 computer LAN with a HUB, linux internet server for our cable modem and a file server. two of the computers use Linux, one uses Win2k and 2 use win98…and he gives all the computers animal names. The internet server is called "monkey", the file server is called "albatross", his computer is called "tiger" the laptop connected to the stereo is called "chicken" and the main PC is called "Hippo"…mine’s called "kristoff’s computer" i’m pathetic i know… — The Man: Kristoff Lajoie – www.kristoff.4t.com The Band: Audio Out      - www.audioout.live.com.au "Dude…you just snapped my G string, stop pulling it so tight."

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this… The frightening thing is, I understood that. My sympathies. I run a 2 computer lan at home. Sometimes I think it’s one too many…. Rob

Response:

If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this…

Ouch! Bar stewards! As an ex Novell sysadmin/NT webbie, this is where I would be shouting, "quality control, working procedures, RFCs".  When setting up new PCs on the LAN, the other sysadmins I worked with would just pull IP addresses out of the air because ‘they thought it was available’. If it worked, they would leave it assuming that it was free – not even thinking that the user it was assigned to may be on holiday/lunch/whatever. Didn’t take me long to get Novell Managewise installed to manage this stuff – shame the other sysadmins didn’t use it. I soon left! Keep smiling, Lynrd – through gritted teeth will work too — Linny

Response:

That was juicy.  Keep us posted. — Bud LeCompte http://budlecompte.com – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you are not into computers, you might as well skip this… My day today…my day job is as Network Administrator for a Accounting/Personal Management firm on Music Row.  I won’t name names but you have heard of many of our clients. We recently merged with another, similar company in LA, and have our eye on another one in New York.  So,  part of my job is maintaining connectivity between two very different networks (Us Microsoft 2000, them Novell 5) via a encrypted VPN link and making sure that everyone in both locations can access data anywhere. In order to do this, I use a link to a Win2K workstation I have set up in LA across the VPN with PCAnywhere and a FTP server  (also the print server for the LA LAN).  I can then administrate the Novell Directory with PCAnywhere in the remote LAN, and use the FTP server to provide file transfer….I have another FTP server on my end. Our LA office uses a computer  firm under contract because they don’t have an in house IT staff like we do (actually, the users out there are pretty much without clue)… The contractors were by yesterday for some workstation stuff that isn’t practical to do remotely from Nashville. So, this morning, the Big Boss comes in screaming he cannot get these Royalty Audit files.  I try the FTP server, and it is not responding…. which never happens.  So I grab the PC Anywhere link….which does not respond…. I start checking the network, and the address that WAS my FTP server/PC anywhere  portal now seems to be a users computer….grrr….. OK, so someone reset my addresses…  I call out to LA, get a hold of a user and walk them through the ultra complex task of running "IPCONFIG" on the print server (this only takes about an hour).  Yep, the address has been changed….but the new address will not answer on PCAnywhere either…. I get on the phone and call the contractor…get a machine…leave a message…. Then I try to connect to the FTP server that should be on that port…no connection…. Deciding the user must have checked the wrong computer, I set up a port scan and start looking for computers listening on the PC anywhere ports…hey, there are only 253 addresses it can be…. No answer. I call out to the contractor again…same machine…"Leave a message and I will return your call immediately"…. I scan the network for FTP servers…. nothing… third call, 3 hours and four phone calls later, I get the contractor to answer his phone…"Yeah, I  changed the DHCP scopes and the address of the print server to …" Me: "Yeah, I got that far…is PC Anywhere stopped for some reason?" Them:  "No, we changed the port numbers to xxxx" Very nonstandard port numbers (and I have configured PCAnywhere to only answer calls over the local, nonroutable LAN..no WAN access at all). Refraining from the obvious question "just why the f**k would you do that?"  I reconfigure PCAnywhere….tunnel in…and find the FTP server isn’t just stopped, it is uninstalled…. Grrrrrrr…..I try to never lose my temper, but this is it…. Me: "Who in MY COMPANY authorized that??!!"" Them:  "Er, well, no one…So and so (one of the senior folks at the contractors office) said it would improve lan security" This from the hired help…without authorization or correct documentation…. How many people think that someones contract is getting terminated very  soon??

Response:

Question:

 However …. her mysterious illness, whatever it is (she hasn’t filed the required papers), doesn’t prevent her from doing heavy work on the house, in the yard, skiing, or more generally, doing things that she wants to do.  It is also likely that the mystery illness is one that she had during the marriage, and which did not prevent her from working then.  (Hence her non-filing of the required papers.  Just as a ‘for instance’, not naming what I think her claim will be, sinus/allergy

I know worker comp investgators have used video tape of people who were injured doing heavy yard work to get claims reduced or removed. Just a thought… Philosophers and plowmen,each must know his part To sow a new mentality, closer to the Heart. To Reply by e-mail remove the number 1 from

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Just know that you are not alone. Many people are in the same place as you. Maybe consider another attorney if your not satisfied. You can continually file motions and watch the bill grow. Marraige is not something I would consider again.

  Yes, it is distressing how common situations like mine are.  Not a misery loves company kind of deal.   But never again is more than I’d go to, at least as a matter of intent.  Might work out that way if xtb gets her wish for alimony, but that’s a different matter.   — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

Robert: I am sorry about your situation .  She is so wrong in robbing you of a life after separation/divorce.  I pray that she will face her greed and let you life your life, and her own, as independent people.

  Thank you for the kind words.     Us both getting on with our lives independantly and constructively has been my hope for some time.  I’ve done what I can in the circumstances, some of which occasionally overload to prompt things like the original post.  But for all that things got so bad between us as to force the separation, and that she has pursued the route she has, I really don’t wish her ill.  Just to get out of my life and on with hers.     A friend close to her (my xtb) has said she doesn’t see what the problem is, you each take what was yours before the marriage, split the marital, and get on with life.  It’d be lovely.  My proposal to do so, which included support for xtb for a time and covering various other expenses, was rejected.  xtb really wants that lifetime welfare plan.     I’m hoping she gets a very rude awakening in court.  (We have a mediation scheduled, but once I refuse the lifetime welfare that’ll be over.) — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

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No children? Fly the coop, join the circus, enlist in the foreign legion! If you are to be made into a wage slave as you propose possible, then take off to Sherwood and join Robin.

  Cute for a joke, but not going to fly.     As has been noted elsewhere, I am terminally honest and responsible.   Whatever the decision is in court, I will carry it out honestly and responsibly.  The xtb may well get to leech off me for the rest of her life.  But she will be looking at a leech in the mirror.  I may have little left and little to rebuild with physically and financially but I am now and will then at least be looking at a person I can respect in the mirror.   Doesn’t prevent me from working against such an unfair and unreasonable outcome.  Doesn’t mean I’ll _like_ it.   — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

For not too much money, you can hire an investigator to videotape her "disabilities."  The courts love that stuff. ==Rog’==

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am very confused here.  IF she is actually too sick to work, as some people honestly are,  and has been working regularly (and thus paying into SDI), shouldn’t she be able to open a claim for her own Disability insurance???? Maybe i’m just being dense, but i don’t think that’s your responsibility to pay for her disability…???   It is on the books that a spouse can ask for support, including for lifetime, on grounds of being too ill to work.  If a person truly _were_ too sick to work, I can kind of see it as SDI doesn’t necessarily provide enough for reasonable support.  The state also has an ‘unconscionable disparity in standard of living’ clause.  So, if she honestly were too ill to earn her living, I could see the point.  Lifetime seems excessive, particularly for a short marriage.  But a point there.   However …. her mysterious illness, whatever it is (she hasn’t filed the required papers), doesn’t prevent her from doing heavy work on the house, in the yard, skiing, or more generally, doing things that she wants to do.  It is also likely that the mystery illness is one that she had during the marriage, and which did not prevent her from working then.  (Hence her non-filing of the required papers.  Just as a ‘for instance’, not naming what I think her claim will be, sinus/allergy problems.  I have them, as do rather a lot of people.  We do work for our livings in spite of the annoying health problem.)  While I can see support for some time to someone who truly is too ill to work, lifetime support for someone who can work and merely doesn’t want to is over the top.  IMHO, of course.  The courts may well disagree. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur

activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New

Sciences

Response:

I am very confused here.  IF she is actually too sick to work, as some people honestly are,  and has been working regularly (and thus paying into SDI), shouldn’t she be able to open a claim for her own Disability insurance????   Maybe i’m just being dense, but i don’t think that’s your responsibility to pay for her disability…???

  It is on the books that a spouse can ask for support, including for lifetime, on grounds of being too ill to work.  If a person truly _were_ too sick to work, I can kind of see it as SDI doesn’t necessarily provide enough for reasonable support.  The state also has an ‘unconscionable disparity in standard of living’ clause.  So, if she honestly were too ill to earn her living, I could see the point.  Lifetime seems excessive, particularly for a short marriage.  But a point there.   However …. her mysterious illness, whatever it is (she hasn’t filed the required papers), doesn’t prevent her from doing heavy work on the house, in the yard, skiing, or more generally, doing things that she wants to do.  It is also likely that the mystery illness is one that she had during the marriage, and which did not prevent her from working then.  (Hence her non-filing of the required papers.  Just as a ‘for instance’, not naming what I think her claim will be, sinus/allergy problems.  I have them, as do rather a lot of people.  We do work for our livings in spite of the annoying health problem.)  While I can see support for some time to someone who truly is too ill to work, lifetime support for someone who can work and merely doesn’t want to is over the top.  IMHO, of course.  The courts may well disagree. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

Does she have a court order giving her possession of the home?  If not, sell it ASAP.  

  No, and can’t.  She’s in it, and refuses to let the would-be buyer get a home inspector in (at minimum this is normal practice, and it may be required).  Kicking her out would make me look bad in court, thereby giving her the settlement she wants (according to lawyer). BTW, you are entitled to the rent she is collecting from the tenants.  Demand an accounting and compensation equal you your equitable share of the income.

  Yep, already in progress.  Won’t accomplish anything as she spends money at least as fast as she gets it, hence can’t repay a fair share even if ordered to. Hopefully, the court will see that she is overreaching.  Be sure that you or your lawyer documents every failure to cooperate or comply with the rules, ask your lawyer file motions to compel or produce, and perhaps see a doctor yourself.  

  In progress, and fingers crossed. You’re a tad stressed-out.

  You did notice my subject line’s expansion, I hope.   Don’t Worry, Be Happy… Take Drugs. I choose ice cream.

  Pretzels, root beer, and running-induced endorphins. 6 mile race tomorrow.  An excuse to be doing something fun with nice people, and to hang around the snack table after the race chatting.  (Depending on who’s there, will be doing so during the race as well.  I won’t be going full out for this one.) — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

No children? Fly the coop, join the circus, enlist in the foreign legion! If you are to be made into a wage slave as you propose possible, then take off to Sherwood and join Robin. Robert Merritt

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Yet another rant/vent/whine.   Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.   That’s all as may be, and certainly my lawyer will argue against such a thing.   Still, I’ve been trying to get my clothes and sentimental mementos (the platypus my now deceased grandmother made for me, and which I took to my doctoral qualifying written exam, for instance) for the past 6 months with no success.  These, of course, are in the house that I’m paying almost all her bills for her to live comfortably in as she covers the rest by renting rooms, no need to work.  Title and mortgage are in my name alone.  Today ended yet another wasted effort on my part and by my (and xtb’s) lawyer to get me in to my house to get my property.  Only effect is to run up my bills and add stress to life.   Since I’ve been in the midst of answering documentary requests (it does, I confess, speed things when I hit the ‘provide last 5 years of’ statements and can answer that plaintiff won’t let me have my papers) and answering interrogatories about the details of the collapse of the marriage, it’s all gotten a bit much.  Listing off exactly (insofar as I can remember) what it is of mine that is in the house (almost everything of mine is there) didn’t help either.   So, she’s already taken all property I have, is planning to take everything I ever will make (beyond barely keeping myself alive to continue working to support her in comfort), and there is every reason to believe that she will be successful.  (And no, I did not commit one of the ‘A’s.  I could have made, and may have to try to make, a case against her for one of them.  But, I’m male and therefore guilty and deserve to lose everything from my past and the rest of my life.)   I’m officially down.   Fortunately it’ll be a while (I hope) before the next round of documentation and interrogatories.  I’ll see about getting back together in the interim.  xtb, of course, has not provided any of the answers or papers that she is supposed to.  No need. She cannot lose anything as there has been and never will be a penalty for her refusals.  The only question is how much she gets to take from me, for how long.   Couple decent outings planned for the weekend.  Cross fingers I get the attention back to those, rather than continue on the xtb.   Rant, whine. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur

activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New

Sciences

Response:

Robert: I am sorry about your situation .  She is so wrong in robbing you of a life after separation/divorce.  I pray that she will face her greed and let you life your life, and her own, as independent people.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Yet another rant/vent/whine.   Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.   That’s all as may be, and certainly my lawyer will argue against such a thing.   Still, I’ve been trying to get my clothes and sentimental mementos (the platypus my now deceased grandmother made for me, and which I took to my doctoral qualifying written exam, for instance) for the past 6 months with no success.  These, of course, are in the house that I’m paying almost all her bills for her to live comfortably in as she covers the rest by renting rooms, no need to work.  Title and mortgage are in my name alone.  Today ended yet another wasted effort on my part and by my (and xtb’s) lawyer to get me in to my house to get my property.  Only effect is to run up my bills and add stress to life.   Since I’ve been in the midst of answering documentary requests (it does, I confess, speed things when I hit the ‘provide last 5 years of’ statements and can answer that plaintiff won’t let me have my papers) and answering interrogatories about the details of the collapse of the marriage, it’s all gotten a bit much.  Listing off exactly (insofar as I can remember) what it is of mine that is in the house (almost everything of mine is there) didn’t help either.   So, she’s already taken all property I have, is planning to take everything I ever will make (beyond barely keeping myself alive to continue working to support her in comfort), and there is every reason to believe that she will be successful.  (And no, I did not commit one of the ‘A’s.  I could have made, and may have to try to make, a case against her for one of them.  But, I’m male and therefore guilty and deserve to lose everything from my past and the rest of my life.)   I’m officially down.   Fortunately it’ll be a while (I hope) before the next round of documentation and interrogatories.  I’ll see about getting back together in the interim.  xtb, of course, has not provided any of the answers or papers that she is supposed to.  No need. She cannot lose anything as there has been and never will be a penalty for her refusals.  The only question is how much she gets to take from me, for how long.   Couple decent outings planned for the weekend.  Cross fingers I get the attention back to those, rather than continue on the xtb.   Rant, whine. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur

activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New

Sciences

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Yet another rant/vent/whine.  Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.  That’s all as may be, and certainly my lawyer will argue against such a thing.  Still, I’ve been trying to get my clothes and sentimental mementos (the platypus my now deceased grandmother made for me, and which I took to my doctoral qualifying written exam, for instance) for the past 6 months with no success.  These, of course, are in the house that I’m paying almost all her bills for her to live comfortably in as she covers the rest by renting rooms, no need to work.  Title and mortgage are in my name alone.  Today ended yet another wasted effort on my part and by my (and xtb’s) lawyer to get me in to my house to get my property.  Only effect is to run up my bills and add stress to life.

Maybe yJust know that you are not alone. Many people are in the same place as you. Maybe consider another attorney if your not satisfied. You can continually file motions and watch the bill grow. Marraige is not something I would consider again. Marie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Since I’ve been in the midst of answering documentary requests (it does, I confess, speed things when I hit the ‘provide last 5 years of’ statements and can answer that plaintiff won’t let me have my papers) and answering interrogatories about the details of the collapse of the marriage, it’s all gotten a bit much.  Listing off exactly (insofar as I can remember) what it is of mine that is in the house (almost everything of mine is there) didn’t help either.  So, she’s already taken all property I have, is planning to take everything I ever will make (beyond barely keeping myself alive to continue working to support her in comfort), and there is every reason to believe that she will be successful.  (And no, I did not commit one of the ‘A’s.  I could have made, and may have to try to make, a case against her for one of them.  But, I’m male and therefore guilty and deserve to lose everything from my past and the rest of my life.)  I’m officially down.    Fortunately it’ll be a while (I hope) before the next round of documentation and interrogatories.  I’ll see about getting back together in the interim.  xtb, of course, has not provided any of the answers or papers that she is supposed to.  No need. She cannot lose anything as there has been and never will be a penalty for her refusals.  The only question is how much she gets to take from me, for how long.  Couple decent outings planned for the weekend.  Cross fingers I get the attention back to those, rather than continue on the xtb.  Rant, whine. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Submitted via WebNewsReader of http://www.interbulletin.com

Response:

 Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.

I am very confused here.  IF she is actually too sick to work, as some people honestly are,  and has been working regularly (and thus paying into SDI), shouldn’t she be able to open a claim for her own Disability insurance????   Maybe i’m just being dense, but i don’t think that’s your responsibility to pay for her disability…???

Response:

I believe we have here a classic case of being "taken to the cleaners." Does she have a court order giving her possession of the home?  If not, sell it ASAP.  BTW, you are entitled to the rent she is collecting from the tenants.  Demand an accounting and compensation equal you your equitable share of the income. Hopefully, the court will see that she is overreaching.  Be sure that you or your lawyer documents every failure to cooperate or comply with the rules, ask your lawyer file motions to compel or produce, and perhaps see a doctor yourself.  You’re a tad stressed-out. Don’t Worry, Be Happy… Take Drugs. I choose ice cream. ==Rog’==

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Yet another rant/vent/whine.   Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.   That’s all as may be, and certainly my lawyer will argue against such a thing.   Still, I’ve been trying to get my clothes and sentimental mementos (the platypus my now deceased grandmother made for me, and which I took to my doctoral qualifying written exam, for instance) for the past 6 months with no success.  These, of course, are in the house that I’m paying almost all her bills for her to live comfortably in as she covers the rest by renting rooms, no need to work.  Title and mortgage are in my name alone.  Today ended yet another wasted effort on my part and by my (and xtb’s) lawyer to get me in to my house to get my property.  Only effect is to run up my bills and add stress to life.   Since I’ve been in the midst of answering documentary requests (it does, I confess, speed things when I hit the ‘provide last 5 years of’ statements and can answer that plaintiff won’t let me have my papers) and answering interrogatories about the details of the collapse of the marriage, it’s all gotten a bit much.  Listing off exactly (insofar as I can remember) what it is of mine that is in the house (almost everything of mine is there) didn’t help either.   So, she’s already taken all property I have, is planning to take everything I ever will make (beyond barely keeping myself alive to continue working to support her in comfort), and there is every reason to believe that she will be successful.  (And no, I did not commit one of the ‘A’s.  I could have made, and may have to try to make, a case against her for one of them.  But, I’m male and therefore guilty and deserve to lose everything from my past and the rest of my life.)   I’m officially down.   Fortunately it’ll be a while (I hope) before the next round of documentation and interrogatories.  I’ll see about getting back together in the interim.  xtb, of course, has not provided any of the answers or papers that she is supposed to.  No need. She cannot lose anything as there has been and never will be a penalty for her refusals.  The only question is how much she gets to take from me, for how long.   Couple decent outings planned for the weekend.  Cross fingers I get the attention back to those, rather than continue on the xtb.   Rant, whine. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur

activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New

Sciences

Response:

  Yet another rant/vent/whine.   Apropos the alimony thread: xtb is going for lifetime alimony, having worked regularly through the 5.5 year marriage, having advanced degree, having no children within the marriage.  She may well get it as she is claiming to be too sick to work, and there is no question that she can, sooner or later, get a doctor to agree.  Her target value for this lifetime welfare plan (health insurance and retirement are included) is a majority of my income.   That’s all as may be, and certainly my lawyer will argue against such a thing.   Still, I’ve been trying to get my clothes and sentimental mementos (the platypus my now deceased grandmother made for me, and which I took to my doctoral qualifying written exam, for instance) for the past 6 months with no success.  These, of course, are in the house that I’m paying almost all her bills for her to live comfortably in as she covers the rest by renting rooms, no need to work.  Title and mortgage are in my name alone.  Today ended yet another wasted effort on my part and by my (and xtb’s) lawyer to get me in to my house to get my property.  Only effect is to run up my bills and add stress to life.   Since I’ve been in the midst of answering documentary requests (it does, I confess, speed things when I hit the ‘provide last 5 years of’ statements and can answer that plaintiff won’t let me have my papers) and answering interrogatories about the details of the collapse of the marriage, it’s all gotten a bit much.  Listing off exactly (insofar as I can remember) what it is of mine that is in the house (almost everything of mine is there) didn’t help either.   So, she’s already taken all property I have, is planning to take everything I ever will make (beyond barely keeping myself alive to continue working to support her in comfort), and there is every reason to believe that she will be successful.  (And no, I did not commit one of the ‘A’s.  I could have made, and may have to try to make, a case against her for one of them.  But, I’m male and therefore guilty and deserve to lose everything from my past and the rest of my life.)   I’m officially down.     Fortunately it’ll be a while (I hope) before the next round of documentation and interrogatories.  I’ll see about getting back together in the interim.  xtb, of course, has not provided any of the answers or papers that she is supposed to.  No need. She cannot lose anything as there has been and never will be a penalty for her refusals.  The only question is how much she gets to take from me, for how long.   Couple decent outings planned for the weekend.  Cross fingers I get the attention back to those, rather than continue on the xtb.   Rant, whine. — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

Question:

I use Pattern Maker.  I have it easy to use and reliable to work with! Donna – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yet another vote for EasyGrapher 2. I have been using this program for a while now, and really like it. I use it mostly for hardanger designs, but just tried a photo-to-chart design recently, and that feature works very nicely in this program. Cindy Brown http://itsastitch.homestead.com/index.html

Response:

Oh Yes Teri…I wanted to replace it …I wanted to throw it out the window or nail it to my driveway BUT then The Angel David came and gave me the support and cleared up the problems and added new features. All of which calmed my soul. All of the replacement options were so chunky looking, this program is like a fine stereo compared to all others. It "clicks" as fast as I can think. I like to see it small then up close then out again and flip it and this has to happen in split seconds or I lose my train of thought. What it does is like the way I think when I design. Thank all of you who helped by sharing your experience with me. I added the best pieces to make this one the ultimate available and I do want to share it with all of you. Marilyn – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Some of you may remember me talking about the program my son wrote especially for me. Recently I had some problems with it and had to have some work done on it. This "Angel" named David appeared and not only updated the program making it solid for my use but he has said it wouldn’t be a problem to make it work on a Mac!!!!!! Glad to hear that things are working well for you, Marilyn.  (:  I didn’t realize that you wanted to update your program.  Last we talked, I thought you’d said you were looking for suggestions on a substitute. Yes, as I remember, when you and Chris talked in email about the program your son had created for you, he (Chris) told you that it would be possible to port the program over to a Mac because that program language was independent of the operating system. (Or something to that effect.  Sorry, I’m not *that* computer literate, myself.)  Glad to hear that someone else agreed with that and might be able to help you with it.  (Wish we had a Mac.  There are a lot of things we’ve been wanting to do where Macs were involved but until we can get one we have to put all those things on the back burner.) Best of luck with getting the program ported over! Teri ~~ http://www.craftsoft.com Spring freebies are up at In the Realm of Dreams! **Announcing two new design lines and the free, downloadable CraftGrid graph paper program**

Response:

We’ve been Mac users since 1987 and have five machines plus a laptop I use all the time. Finally broke down last year and bought myself a good PC laptop just to use two charting programs – have the professional version of Il Soft and Compucrafts for the PC. Unfortunately, I don’t use either program much as I’m not crazy abou using a PC but will do if forced to. In today’s business world it’s best to be knowledgeable on both platforms. BTW – SoftWindows is known as SLOWindows for the Mac – this emulator software was never good for my Macs from experience.  I used it with the IL Soft charting program and had it bomb regularly. — Lula http://www.woolydream.com Needlework Adventures

Response:

As long as the program that Sandy is talking about lets you determine the # of colors why couldn’t it be used to create ANY grid based pattern?? Susan p.s I used to use macs for everything (when I was a prof at a major univeristy)-loved them!; when I started my own business, I shifted to a pc machine (for most everything, I still use the OLD powerbook for some graphics and stats work) — I had to, the most critical piece of software for my business didn’t have ANY alternative to pc – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi Cheri… What a shame there isn’t a decent stitching program for the Mac.  I have a beadshop and we had the opposite happen here…  the bead design programs that are PC based are really shabby… but there’s a great one for the Mac. We bought an iMac, and iBook, scanner/printer combo, and digital camera. It’s an absolutely wonderful setup.  I’ve been doing about 3 custom patterns a week for my customers.  From silly cartoon like stuff to pictures of their pets. You have to just scan the picture… size it to the desired finished size… save it as a pict… then pop it into the bead program.  The bead program will either figure the beads for you or you can click each bead into place. It’s so fun to use. Are you absolutely positive there isn’t a decent program for the Mac?  I haven’t checked for stitch software…  I cross stitch just as a hobby, and I’m not super interested in designed stitch patterns… at least yet…. but this is something I’m interested in learning more about. Can you tell me what programs you’ve tried already for the Mac? (if any) I’d like to know what you’ve thought of them. Sally Organization: http://www.remarq.com: The World’s Usenet/Discussions Start Here Newsgroups: rec.crafts.textiles.needlework Hello.  It’s me again, the designer of National Park Needlework, still trying to decide which charting software to buy.  I have always done my designing and charting by hand, and we had an old IBM for accounting.  Last spring we upgraded to an iMac, not realizing that Mac design software was very limited.  I can’t quite bring myself to buy a Mac program when the PC ones look so much better.  I have tried to run PC programs on SoftWindows for Mac, but it hasn’t worked very well…so now we’re considering getting a PC for the business.  I want to be able to scan photos, then rework it to suite my artistic eye.  I want to have clear, easy to read black and white charts.  I want to be able to do typesetting within the software to produce charts for publication.  I have been reading the reviews of software in Just CrossStitch magazine, and have downloaded what I can on my iMac. But I would like to ask for your opinion… What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider? Thank you sooooooo much for you help. Cheri Fulmer FulmerCraft www.vistek.com/html/fulmer.htm Nationa Park Needlewor * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Hi Trish, There’s more mac lovers out there than you think. Macs are considered the superior machine in my line of work-graphic design. Michelle

Ah (sadly), but Michelle I live in Australia, where competition from cheap south east Asian clones has really dented the Mac market. People want champagne and are only willing to pay for beer! If I mention Macs in my circles, I get sneers: ‘why pay for that when my PC cost chickenfeed?’ It’s an old argument and one that’ll probably never be resolved. I just love ‘em, though, for the easy way any drongo can do Real Computer Stuff with hardly any effort at all! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Response:

Hi Everbody, I am starting to use StitchPainter Gold by Cochenille. Up until recently, I’ve just drawn freehand on my canvas and winged it from there, but since I plan to offer charts from my web site I need to be a little more regular in my designing process. I like SPG, it is adaptable and if you are familiar with Photoshop, it is based on the same ideas, it has a stitch counting feature that is very handy. It would work for beading, knitting and even quilting. It comes with a DMC pallette but i have had to build my own pallette as i use Paternayan yarns but overall, I would recommend it. Thanks, Polly M. Law/Thrums End Art Studio in the beautiful Mid Hudson Valley of NY, USDA zone 5 Look for the Flying Teapot, your assurance of Delight! <http://www.thrumsend.com Our motto: "Insolitores Res Contiguerunt!" All P.M.Law/T.E.A.S. email is meant to be read in a spirit of calm joviality, not the LIVID ANTAGONISM usually inferred to electronic discourse

Response:

If I mention Macs in my circles, I get sneers: ‘why pay for that when my PC cost chickenfeed?’ It’s an old argument and one that’ll probably never be resolved. I just love ‘em, though, for the easy way any drongo can do Real Computer Stuff with hardly any effort at all! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

There will always be non-believers out there. )  We are die-hard Mac people, though. )  For a while, though, I think they did price themselves out of the market.  I know people who really loved their old Mac, but could replace it with a Pee Cee for less than they could upgrade to the modern Mac at the time.  When it came to the decision between food on the table or a Pee Cee over a Mac, the food and the Pee Cee won.  :-))  If only DH had had extra money that day those guys in the van drove around asking for people to invest in their "new" computer company. )))))) Liz from Humbug

Response:

Smiling at the few Mac lovers coming out of the woodwork: Cut us and we bleed rainbow! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Response:

Smiling at the few Mac lovers coming out of the woodwork: Cut us and we bleed rainbow! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

  Some of you may remember me talking about the program my son wrote especially for me. Recently I had some problems with it and had to have some work done on it. This "Angel" named David appeared and not only updated the program making it solid for my use but he has said it wouldn’t be a problem to make it work on a Mac!!!!!!  The newer ones…… but still if you could see this program you would cry to own it. I have downloaded all of the sample programs and mine is like lightyears ahead. High resolution and many magic features. I have considered making it so that a stitcher could make color changes to my designs…that’s in the dreamstage but it is possible that I may have this software ready to sell soon. E-mail me if you would be interested in something like this? If you peek over my shoulder you can see the new design all finished and ready for the stitchers…….Marilyn

Response:

<BG never heard the "bleed a rainbow" before… too cute. I’ve had a Mac since 1987… and I paid about $3,000 to $4,000 for every one of them… until the iMacs and iBooks came out.  I have one of each here at the shop, and I love ‘em!   I have an ethernet connection so that I can easily plug in my iBook to get design work off the iMac.  We also have a DSL connection (256k) that both of the Macs can use at the same time… and even my Compaq PC laptop  (boy how I hate that thing compared to the Macs!) It’s such a joy to use these things.  It’s almost embarrassing to bring the iBook out in public (coffee houses, etc).. it still gets lots of looks and people are always coming over to see if it’s a "real" computer.  <G. More fun than a computer should be!  <G Sally – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Organization: University of Newcastle Newsgroups: rec.crafts.textiles.needlework Smiling at the few Mac lovers coming out of the woodwork: Cut us and we bleed rainbow! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Response:

Smiling at the few Mac lovers coming out of the woodwork: Cut us and we bleed rainbow! — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Hi Trish, There’s more mac lovers out there than you think. Macs are considered the superior machine in my line of work-graphic design. Michelle

Response:

 Some of you may remember me talking about the program my son wrote especially for me. Recently I had some problems with it and had to have some work done on it. This "Angel" named David appeared and not only updated the program making it solid for my use but he has said it wouldn’t be a problem to make it work on a Mac!!!!!!

Glad to hear that things are working well for you, Marilyn.  (:  I didn’t realize that you wanted to update your program.  Last we talked, I thought you’d said you were looking for suggestions on a substitute. Yes, as I remember, when you and Chris talked in email about the program your son had created for you, he (Chris) told you that it would be possible to port the program over to a Mac because that program language was independent of the operating system. (Or something to that effect.  Sorry, I’m not *that* computer literate, myself.)  Glad to hear that someone else agreed with that and might be able to help you with it.  (Wish we had a Mac.  There are a lot of things we’ve been wanting to do where Macs were involved but until we can get one we have to put all those things on the back burner.) Best of luck with getting the program ported over! Teri ~~ http://www.craftsoft.com Spring freebies are up at In the Realm of Dreams! **Announcing two new design lines and the free, downloadable CraftGrid graph paper program**

Response:

I’m not a designer, this said, I have used Patternmaker (not the pro edition) and PC Stitch.  As I’ve posted before, I don’t like the fact that in PC Stitch you can only have one window open.  I like to have a couple of doodle windows going so you can cut and paste between them. Other posters have said you can work around this by opening the program more than once – well, yes, you can, but I don’t think you should have to!  Also I find the backstitch on PC Stitch is very hard to line up with the cross stitches.  I do like the specialty stitch feature of PC Stitch, that’s quite cool.  I liked Patternmaker though the version I had (1.0, free with printer) didn’t have anything much beyond cross stitch, backstitch, and picture importing.  But I think both the versions I had were a little too simple for professional work.   Alison

Response:

Hi Cheri… What a shame there isn’t a decent stitching program for the Mac.  I have a beadshop and we had the opposite happen here…  the bead design programs that are PC based are really shabby… but there’s a great one for the Mac. We bought an iMac, and iBook, scanner/printer combo, and digital camera. It’s an absolutely wonderful setup.  I’ve been doing about 3 custom patterns a week for my customers.  From silly cartoon like stuff to pictures of their pets. You have to just scan the picture… size it to the desired finished size… save it as a pict… then pop it into the bead program.  The bead program will either figure the beads for you or you can click each bead into place. It’s so fun to use. Are you absolutely positive there isn’t a decent program for the Mac?  I haven’t checked for stitch software…  I cross stitch just as a hobby, and I’m not super interested in designed stitch patterns… at least yet…. but this is something I’m interested in learning more about. Can you tell me what programs you’ve tried already for the Mac? (if any) I’d like to know what you’ve thought of them. Sally – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Organization: http://www.remarq.com: The World’s Usenet/Discussions Start Here Newsgroups: rec.crafts.textiles.needlework Hello.  It’s me again, the designer of National Park Needlework, still trying to decide which charting software to buy.  I have always done my designing and charting by hand, and we had an old IBM for accounting.  Last spring we upgraded to an iMac, not realizing that Mac design software was very limited.  I can’t quite bring myself to buy a Mac program when the PC ones look so much better.  I have tried to run PC programs on SoftWindows for Mac, but it hasn’t worked very well…so now we’re considering getting a PC for the business.  I want to be able to scan photos, then rework it to suite my artistic eye.  I want to have clear, easy to read black and white charts.  I want to be able to do typesetting within the software to produce charts for publication.  I have been reading the reviews of software in Just CrossStitch magazine, and have downloaded what I can on my iMac. But I would like to ask for your opinion… What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider? Thank you sooooooo much for you help. Cheri Fulmer FulmerCraft www.vistek.com/html/fulmer.htm Nationa Park Needlewor * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Hello.  It’s me again, the designer of National Park Needlework, still trying to decide which charting software to buy.  I have always done my designing and charting by hand, and we had an old IBM for accounting.  Last spring we upgraded to an iMac, not realizing that Mac design software was very limited.  I can’t quite bring myself to buy a Mac program when the PC ones look so much better.  I have tried to run PC programs on SoftWindows for Mac, but it hasn’t worked very well…so now we’re considering getting a PC for the business.  I want to be able to scan photos, then rework it to suite my artistic eye.  I want to have clear, easy to read black and white charts.  I want to be able to do typesetting within the software to produce charts for publication.  I have been reading the reviews of software in Just CrossStitch magazine, and have downloaded what I can on my iMac. But I would like to ask for your opinion… What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider? Thank you sooooooo much for you help. Cheri Fulmer FulmerCraft www.vistek.com/html/fulmer.htm Nationa Park Needlewor * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Yet another vote for EasyGrapher 2. I have been using this program for a while now, and really like it. I use it mostly for hardanger designs, but just tried a photo-to-chart design recently, and that feature works very nicely in this program. Cindy Brown http://itsastitch.homestead.com/index.html

Response:

I also use XSGold Premium Plus and I think it is the best-  I used EasyGrapher previously and I think XSGold is much better and more versatle. They have a demo at their web site too. Betsy Elizabeth Foster www.elizabethsdesigns.com

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Sally – I am not absolutely sure that there isn’t a decent charting program for Mac.  I just haven’t been satisfied with what I can find, once I compare it to the PC software.  I tried PCStitch on my iMac with SoftWindows.  It would probably work OK. The instructions were good. But the SoftWindows was driving me crazy.  So then I downloaded a Pro-Stitch demo for Mac.  There were no instructions.  I’m the type that likes to follow instructions.  I got frustrated.  I was really interested in ilsoft’s program for Macintosh.  But when I emailed them I was told the Mac program is only available on floppy disc, and wouldn’t work on my iMac. I love my iMac, but I want the most up to date charting software. (And our 10 year old son is campaigning for a PC so he can play a Scooby Doo game that is only for PC…along with other PC only action games.)  We can actually use 2 computers…one for the office and one for the home.  So it almost makes sense to have one of each…mac and PC. Anymore thoughts out there from the rest of you? Thanks for your help. * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

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I’m not a ‘designer’ per se, but I do like to chart my own stuff from time to time. I *really* like WinStitch too! It shares the same algorithm I have in my brain and I find it much better than most of the other programs out there. However, I hear a lot of people say they’re not so keen on it. This leads me to suggest that you’ll need to try a few programs to get a feel for what speaks to you. Kathy Dyer has many of the downloadable ones listed on her site. Why not go and twiddle with a few demos and see what you enjoy most? — Trish {|:OI} Newcastle, NSW, Australia

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(for some reason, when I post the message, I usually loose some of the last letters…we’ll see what happens this

Um… you lost them. Is it a remarq error, perhaps? –Kris (who uses Pattern Maker, non-pro version, for my freebies) Free Needlework Charts!   Moonshadow Stitchery: http://www.crosswinds.net/~msstitchery/

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I realize now that I should not have limited my request to "designers" in my topic sentence, but rather to "anyone" who uses charting software!  I hope more people add to this list.  I’m having fun going to the different web sites as I read each post. It was too mind boggling to look at the list of Software Companies and try to make heads or tails of it…but now there is a method to my madness.  Thanks a lot. Cheri Fulmer (for some reason, when I post the message, I usually loose some of the last letters…we’ll see what happens this * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

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Another vote for Easy Grapher Professional 2.  Would love their Stitch Wiz but finances prohibit that at this time!!! Sue Ann — X/Can/ H+++/X25Y24Y22X19/ x4y2/HXNK/R~+10/ HarrisonFord/Catherine Cookson and mysteries/M&M’s.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider? I use Patternmaker Pro (for PC) and have been very happy with it.  I just recently got Easy Grapher Stitch Wiz to use for my diagrams.  I import the charts and diagrams into Microsoft Publisher to do my layout where I add all the words, etc. Barb SIC http://www.somethingincom.com

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Thank you for adding "another vote".  In reading past posts about this topic, I have usually seen each title mentioned only once…and what I"m interested in is a real tally on what everyone likes….I think other rctn members will be interested too! Best wishes, Ch * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

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Hello, Elisabeth calling in from Sweden. I have used PC-stitch earlier, now on Win-Stitch – which suits me better – and have made a try on Easy Cross Enterprise, which I have decided to buy as soon as I can afford it. I both scan pictures and make them myself "free-hand". For this I like Win-Stitch best. When it comes to borders, PC-stitch is better. wbr Elisabeth WIP: Dream Catch! (own design), Violets Table Topper (Iltex Design). – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider?

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What software do you use?  Are you happy with it?  If you were buying a new program, what ones would you consider?

I use Patternmaker Pro (for PC) and have been very happy with it.  I just recently got Easy Grapher Stitch Wiz to use for my diagrams.  I import the charts and diagrams into Microsoft Publisher to do my layout where I add all the words, etc. Barb SIC http://www.somethingincom.com

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Question:

Hello all, Have a problem with Simply Accounting. After installing a network and new computers, a client cannot access her simply accounting files. She went from a win95 machine to a win98 and now she gets the error message that her data has been updated and is not compatible. This is the message I got, any suggestions? Thanks. Chad Kumor 905 564 1055 EXT224 905 564 4768 FAX System Management Design

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Without more information I can only guess, but following is a possibility: The software was updated on the Win95 computer and the data was converted to a newer format as a result.  Then the original software was installed on the Win98 computer and the previous update was not applied. I don’t use Simply regularly, so I’m not familiar with the frequency or methods of updating the software.  Even if I were, you haven’t said what version of Simply, so it’s impossible to be more specific. If you need more help, it will be useful if you provide more information – such as the version of Simply, and specify "Canadian" for readers who don’t recognize your telephone area code.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello all, Have a problem with Simply Accounting. After installing a network and new computers, a client cannot access her simply accounting files. She went from a win95 machine to a win98 and now she gets the error message that her data has been updated and is not compatible. This is the message I got, any suggestions? Thanks. Chad Kumor 905 564 1055 EXT224 905 564 4768 FAX System Management Design

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I have simply on a network server simply to make sure it gets backed up, and also so that different people can get into it when they need, even though it only allows one at a time. anyway, think the response from Vernon is probably the answer, as its definately not anything to do with the network or running it under win98 or win2000 for that matter…

Hello all, Have a problem with Simply Accounting. After installing a network and new computers, a client cannot access her simply accounting files. She went from a win95 machine to a win98 and now she gets the error message that her data has been updated and is not compatible. This is the message I got, any suggestions? Thanks. Chad Kumor 905 564 1055 EXT224 905 564 4768 FAX System Management Design

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When you have a report, or statement displayed, click on the file button (where you would go to chose print) and chose export from the menu.  Another menu box gives you several options as to type.  Close the xls format, and it will export to your choice of locations.  One word of caution, it suppresses cell headers, so you will need to go to tools and options to turn them back on.  Also, if you’re using Office ‘97, it exports into an older format, so you’ll need to save the sheet once you’ve opened it, to allow all the formatting available. Barb

Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone use this package by Accpac? They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them. Mike, Where do you get this info? Do you have a reference? I have seen you quote this a few times but find it hard to believe. The product, at least in Canada is sold in Computer City, London Drugs, Staples, etc. John

These stores have close-outs all the time. The story was in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel business section. I believe the chain includes the Chicago Tribune or Sun Times. I will be glad if it is wrong and QB has more competition. I sold and supported BPI-Accpac for years. However, the Computer Associates web site says all their financial packages have 75,000 users. QuickBooks is certainly not the answer for many companies (weak inventory, no medical billing or multi-currency, no multi-company or divisions on the balance sheet, no find and replace, only 5 users at a time, etc.). However, its combination of  EASE OF USE, price, flexibility, power, ease of corrections, income tax integration, advertising, etc., gave it 2.500,000 registered users (86% of the market). Quicken and TurboTax have even more users and almost as much in market share, according to unchallenged Microsoft anti-trust testimony. Therefore, most of us feel you now need a good reason not to use them.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.              World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated.

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Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated.

They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.              World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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How many companies today only sell on the web? Does that mean they are dead? I do not think so. Quickbooks is not the correct solution for many small businesses. If inventory or order entry is required then the first thing one should do when choosing a small business package is to cross off Quickbooks from their list. Allan Martin, CPA A Quickbooks and Accpac NJ Consultant – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated. They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.  World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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Mike There are hundreds of Accounting Packages on the market today. Just because the large retail chains only have shelf space for 3 or 4 of them does not mean the all the rest are dead. As a side bar I might add that two weeks ago Accpac International for the first time I can remember (I have been an Accpac Var for 15 years) mailed each of their VARS the latest version of Simply Accounting free of charge. How this will effect sales remains uncertain, but if the product is supported by their highly trained VAR network then there may still be life after retail. Allan Martin – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated. They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.  World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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Does anyone use this package by Accpac? They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them.

Mike, Where do you get this info? Do you have a reference? I have seen you quote this a few times but find it hard to believe. The product, at least in Canada is sold in Computer City, London Drugs, Staples, etc. John

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Mike There are hundreds of Accounting Packages on the market today. Just because the large retail chains only have shelf space for 3 or 4 of them does not mean the all the rest are dead. As a side bar I might add that two weeks ago Accpac International for the first time I can remember (I have been an Accpac Var for 15 years) mailed each of their VARS the latest version of Simply Accounting free of charge. How this will effect sales remains uncertain, but if the product is supported by their highly trained VAR network then there may still be life after retail. Allan Martin

This may have been the best way to get rid of excess retail-packaged inventory. mike block – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone use this package by Accpac? I am trying to figure out how to export data to an Excel spreadsheet. Any help would be appreciated. They recently announced they were stopping retail distribution and would only sell on the web. This makes them a dead end, so look for an alternative instead of investing time using them.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.  World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

  Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.              World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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